Frenulotomy Surgery day!

I didn't sleep well last night. I was nervous about today's surgery. All went well though. My husband was going to stay home with our daughter, but she woke up at 6:30 this morning so I thought why don't we all go. Big mistake. She was tired and cranky and bored! She did not want to sit in the stroller at all despite the toys and treats I brought with us. Almost sounds like she's a dog.

She was so cranky. We all were in the prep room. (I'm not sure the technical name for the room, but it's where you get ready for the surgery and then wait to be taken into surgery.) Christopher sat very still for all his vitals, but his sister was crying and signing "ALL DONE". It was a nightmare. Not to mention the fact that because my husband works nights he was up all night and cranky too!

Christopher was so cute in the tiny hospital gown. It's the fourth one he's been into. I actually have two from the first times he was in the hospital. This one was orange with looney tunes on it. He was in such a good mood. The entire time we waited, about an hour, he mostly played, laughed, and talked. I was nervous, but mostly worried about cranky thing one and two!

When they took him back I felt bad at first because I couldn't go. I know why, but still it is hard to be separated from your child especially when you know they are going under the knife. I sound like he had some thing major done. To catch you up he had a Frenulotomy done. The ski under his tongue comes holds his tongue down to much. It actually extends all the way to the end of his tongue. It causes eating difficulties and later speech problems. So it is best to fix it during infancy.

The procedure took probably 15 minutes. They put him under anesthesia by use of a gas mask. He wasn't under long because before they came to get me I could hear him crying. They then gave him rectal Tylenol to help with pain. They numbed the area with a local anesthetic. Then clipped the skin under the tongue back so that it is now normal. There was little bleeding, according to the doctor only a drop. He didn't even need stitches. He had a little drainage after ward, but was fine.

In recovery when I came in he was crying, but also laughing when he saw me. I felt so bad for him, but so good to be wanted that much. He stopped crying a little when I held him, but he was miserable. I got him dressed and tried to feed him. He wasn't interested in eating so since we were discharged we left. I tried to put him into the stroller, but he screamed. He just wanted to be cuddled. By the time we got into the car he was fine. He watched the DVD "Meet The Robinson's" until he fell asleep. The rest of the day he was a little crankier than usual and slept a little more, but other than that was his normal self. I alternated Tylenol and Motrin all day so he wouldn't suffer any pain.

Frenulotomy!

A few months ago we were told that our son had a problem with his tongue. The tissue under the tongue that holds it down is to prominent. We were told not to worry, and that we would just watch to see if it caused any problems. My husband and I thought he was a very silly baby because he always has his tongue sticking out, and has done so almost since birth. Now that he is older he constantly makes raspberry noises as well.

Since he has been able to sit up, with assistance, we have been trying to spoon feed him and are having tons of problems. He spits almost all the food out. I know that he needs to learn to eat with a spoon, but it seems like he is trying and just can't. His tongue just pushes the food out. It seems only every once in a while would he actually really be able to take a bite.

Looking back to when he was a newborn I had attempted to breast feed him, but with little success. For one thing it was really painful. I just thought I was doing something wrong. He was also really noisy, and that scared me. We later found out that he was so noisy due to a throat condition he had called Laryngomalacia. Also, breast feeding takes up a lot of time, and my daughter was to young to understand why this baby was getting all Mommy's attention. So to my disappointment I quit breast feeding.

Now my son is set up to have surgery this coming Thursday. He is having a Frenulotomy. Which is the surgical detachment of a frenum. The skin under your tongue that holds your tongue down. His comes all the way out to the end of his tongue. If this is not done he will continue to have eating problems, develop speech problems, and when he has teeth the skin can and probably will get stuck between his teeth.

The procedure seems relatively simple. He will be put under anesthesia, but only by a gas mask. All they will do is cut back the tissue as close as they can get to being right underneath his tongue. He may not even bleed. Apparently this procedure has been done since the 18th century when midwives would just use a sharp nail at birth to separate the tissue. None the less as a parent I am still nervous for my son, and praying that all is well.